Shelter
by Master thief Gray Shadow
Summary: On a rainy night, Hagumi runs away from home again. And somehow finds her way to Misaki's house.


The noise of the rain against the window didn't register for Misaki. As she lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling her ears were already occupied with an Anything Box song, pumped in from headphones connected to a walkman. Maybe it was a little odd for a kid in this day and age to have a walkman, what with phones being capable of storing fifty cassette tapes' worth of songs and having twice the space to spare, but something about a physical format pleased her. Especially one that was considered obsolete.

This was how her evenings usually went, after dinner had been eaten and homework taken care of. Just quietly listening to music in her room, relaxed and at peace. Peace was hard to come by in her life these days, so she needed to take what she could get. She'd grown to love Hello, Happy World, sure, but she still found herself barely having room to breathe sometimes. Perhaps a little more than just figuratively, considering how that Michelle suit could get terribly stuffy. The thought of asking the suits to have cooling fans installed crossed her mind before drifting off into the distance as all her other thoughts had been doing. She didn't bother chasing after it. Too much effort. For now she was content to simply exist alone in her own world, her place of sanctuary.

"Misaki?" Her mother's voice, followed by a knock on her door. "Misaki, are you awake?"

And just like that she was yanked right out. She sighed as she removed her headphones and raised her head slightly. "Yeah, why?"

"Someone is here to see you. She says she's a friend from your band."

"What?" Misaki sat bolt upright now. Oh god, did Kokoro want to hang out now? At this time of night? She could have at least let her know ahead of time. Or maybe Kanon had gotten really lost again. "Who?"

"The one with the short hair. That one."

Oh, so it was Hagumi. Misaki relaxed slightly, relieved by the knowledge that she probably wouldn't be dragged out of the house because of this. And then immediately tensed up again as she remembered that there was one reason that Hagumi would be all the way over here.

Oh. Oh no, this was bad. With maybe a little too much haste Misaki rolled off of her bed and opened the door.

"Did you let her in?" She asked softly. "It's raining out, so…"

"Of course," Her mother said with a nod. "She's in the living room." Without another word Misaki slipped past her mother and briskly made her way downstairs. Her heart seemed to be beating just a tiny bit faster as a trace amount of worry settled in her stomach. It wasn't like Hagumi giving her anxiety was somehow unusual, but normally it was more "please don't climb that you're gonna fall and get hurt" and not...this.

"Mi-kun!" A voice chirped from the couch as Misaki entered the living room, surprisingly cheerful and energetic for someone who seemed to be soaking wet. At least her mother had been kind enough to drape a towel over Hagumi, although judging from the way she was shivering it didn't seem like it was enough. Misaki made her way over and knelt down in front of her.

"Are you okay?" She said as she took one of Hagumi's hands in her own. Oh gods they were freezing, she needed some warming up immediately.

"Hagumi is fine, but she can't stay at home tonight," Hagumi said with a wide smile that seemed very inappropriate given what Misaki imagined were the circumstances. "Eheheh, Mi-kun's hands are so warm."

"Yeah, about that," Misaki said as she looked Hagumi over slowly. Her orange hair had turned a darker color as it sagged downwards, some of it hanging in her face. Water dripped from her soggy locks, some onto the couch, and some running down her skin and under her clothes, which Misaki could imagine were in an equally soaked state. Hagumi reminded her a little of a wet pomeranian, especially with how she was still smiling despite everything. "Come on, follow me." She let go of Hagumi's hand and stood up. "You need to change out of those clothes." As she started heading back toward her room she signalled for Hagumi to follow. Hagumi cheered and did so eagerly.

"So...do you want to talk about what happened?" They were back in the bedroom now, with Misaki sifting through her closet looking for something for Hagumi to wear. Misaki was broad-shouldered and sturdily built, and liked her clothing loose, so she had no idea how anything she owned could possibly fit on Hagumi's lithe little frame. Still, she had to look for something. It probably wouldn't be good to have her hanging around in wet clothes.

"Dad just got really mad again, Hagumi doesn't know why." She didn't sound quite as chipper as she had earlier, but the ease with which she spoke was still kind of unsettling. Misaki's stomach twisted a little. "He was being really scary, so Hagumi left."

"So you came here?" Misaki said as she turned around and tossed a hoodie and a pair of track pants in Hagumi's direction. Apparently she'd had these in middle school and outgrown them, so maybe they were about the right size. Maybe.

"Well, at first Hagumi didn't know where to go," Hagumi said as she started peeling off her ruined shirt. Misaki respectfully turned around and looked the other way. "But then she remembered that Mi-kun is nice, so she decided to go to her house."

Misaki sighed. She wouldn't lie, the fact that Hagumi had shown up with the intent to crash was giving her a mild headache. But to turn her away...that would be unthinkable. Inhumane. Still, something bothered her about this whole thing.

"My place is a little out of the way, though, isn't it? Don't you usually stay with someone else in the shopping district?" Misaki glanced over her shoulder to check on Hagumi's state of dress, and turned around fully upon finding it satisfactory. Although upon closer inspection it seemed 'satisfactory' was the best they would get. Even the outgrown hand-me-downs seemed a size too big on Hagumi, the legs of the pants pooling around her ankles and the tips of her fingers just poking out of the sleeves.

"Yeah," Without warning Hagumi ran up to Misaki and nearly tackled her with a hug, "but Hagumi wanted to see Mi-kun!" She was wearing dry clothes now but Hagumi's hands were still icy, and feeling them on her back through her shirt made Misaki wince even as she awkwardly returned the hug.

"That's...very sweet of you," She said as she felt Hagumi nuzzle into her like a kitten. So she was the first person to come to Hagumi's mind when she needed to feel safe... Something slightly warm bubbled up in her chest. But it wasn't warm enough to distract her from the chilly body pressed against her. "A-anyway, you should probably get yourself under a blanket or something. You can have my bed."

"Heheh, okay!" Hagumi released Misaki from the hug and practically leapt into the bed. She crawled all the way under the covers and wiggled around for a bit before poking her head out, grinning broadly. Oh jeez. Misaki wouldn't say it out loud, but wow that was adorable. She opted to just smile and let out a small laugh before moving to collect her walkman.

"You comfortable?" She asked. Of course, Hagumi looked like the very definition of comfortable at the moment, but it didn't hurt to make sure with these things.

"Hagumi's really comfortable," Hagumi said, rolling over while still burritoed up in the blanket. Her expression seemed even goofier while she was upside down.

"Good." Misaki nodded before moving towards the bedroom door. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Hagumi's face fell in confusion as she sat up, pulling herself out from the blankets in the process. "Where are you going?"

"Just downstairs. I'm gonna sleep on the couch."

"Why?" Hagumi cocked her head.

"Well," Misaki rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "You kinda have my bed already, so…"

"Mi-kun can still have her bed," Hagumi said softly. She looked so sad with those big watery puppy dog eyes she was making. As if she hadn't been tugging at Misaki's heartstrings all evening. "There's still room."

Misaki sighed and looked down at the floor. If the complete idiot trio was here she'd have no trouble at all saying no, but this was just Hagumi, and besides, she probably still needed some warming up.

"Okay," Misaki breathed, looking up at Hagumi again. "Move over." Hagumi lit up as she rolled over to one side of the bed, leaving plenty of space for the bed's regular occupant. As Misaki lay down Hagumi offered her a bit of the blanket. Misaki paused for a moment, taking in Hagumi's grinning face, before shrugging and accepting. She pulled the blanket over her bottom half as she lay down on her back, and was prepared to relax before she felt arms wrapping around her torso and a face burying itself into her shoulder.

"You're so warm, Mi-kun," Hagumi said as she snuggled closer.

"I...I guess." Misaki was decidedly not used to being cuddled like this, and while it wasn't unpleasant or anything it was a little odd. Hm. Her walkman was still clutched in her hand. Exhaling softly, she once again put on the headphones and pressed the play button on the device, finally managing to lie back and relax as the music resumed.

"Mi-kun?"

"Hm?"

Hagumi lifted her head. "What are you listening to?"

"Oh, just some music I like," She said, her eyes once again on the ceiling.

"What kind of music?"

"Old music." She turned to look at Hagumi. "It's in English too. You probably haven't heard of it."

"English?" Hagumi's eyes lit up. "Hagumi doesn't know any English...but can Hagumi listen anyway?"

Misaki laid still for a moment, half assessing the situation and half simply listening to the music playing in her ears, before sitting up slightly. "Here." She removed her headphones and gently placed them onto Hagumi. "What do you think?"

Hagumi just listened for a bit, taking in the new sound. Misaki watched her face carefully, noting the growing sparkle in her eyes and the gradual upward movement of the corners of her already smiling mouth.

"It's cool!" She said finally, her face now glowing with joy. "Hagumi doesn't know what they're saying, but Mi-kun really does listen to cool music!"

Misaki laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess they're pretty cool." She found herself grunting in surprise as Hagumi suddenly pulled her into a tight hug, her face nuzzled against Misaki's chest.

"You're so cool, Mi-kun," She mumbled into Misaki's shirt. "And you're a good friend to Hagumi."

Reflexively Misaki found herself gently stroking Hagumi's hair, which, in combination with the rain against the window, was actually pretty soothing.

"It's no problem," She said as she felt Hagumi snuggle tighter against her. "I'll always be here for you."


End file.
